Henry Hyde Champion
Encyclopedia
Henry Hyde Champion was a socialist journalist
and activist, regarded as one of the leading spirits behind the formation of the Independent Labour Party
. Up to 1893, he lived and worked in Great Britain
, moving after that date to Australia
.
on 22 January 1859, the son of Major-General James Hyde Champion, and his wife Henrietta Susan, née Urquhart, of aristocratic Scottish descent.
Henry was sent to England at four years of age to attend a day school and from 13 was educated at Marlborough College
, later he attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He entered the army fought with the artillery in the Afghan War of 1879
. There he caught typhoid and was sent back to England.
A radical friend showed Champion the London East End slums; his friend also accompanied Champion to the United States
where Champion was influenced by the writings of Henry George
.
. He became assistant secretary of the Social Democratic Federation
(SDF) and wrote for the socialist paper, Justice
. In 1886 with John Burns
, Henry Hyndman
and J. Williams he was indicted for seditious conspiracy in connexion with the Trafalgar Square
riots, after conducting his own defence he was acquitted.
Champion bought a half-share in a printing plant and published a paper called To-Day, and in 1885-86 George Bernard Shaw
's early novel Cashel Byron's Profession
appeared in it as a serial. It was published separately by Champion in 1886. This was the first of Shaw's works published in book form.
Champion joined the Labour Electoral Association and founded a newspaper called Labour Elector
in 1888.
In 1889 Champion was one of the leaders of the dock labourers' strike
, to the funds of which a large sum was sent from Australia
. Soon afterwards he had a disagreement with some of his fellow socialists, broke away, and for a time was assistant-editor of the Nineteenth Century. He stood as an independent candidate for the House of Commons
at Aberdeen
, but, though he polled fairly well, was defeated and soon afterwards went to Melbourne
to find relief from illness, arriving on 12 August 1890.
Henry Hyde Champion is regarded by some as the father of the Independent Labour Party
. Historian Joseph Clayton
wrote in 1926:
In 1895 Champion established a weekly paper the Champion which lasted until 1897, and he also published in Melbourne in 1895 The Root of the Matter, a series of dialogues on social questions, which gave moderate statement of the socialist position, but attracted little attention. Champion could not, however, find his place in politics in Australia. He could not see eye to eye with the Australian Labor Party
, and a statement, possibly made in haste, that this party consisted of lions led by asses did not help the position. He was a candidate for South Melbourne
for the Victorian Legislative Assembly
supported now by many at the Trades Hall; the campaign revolved round his personal reputation and he had the satisfaction of prosecuting Max Hirsch
and extracting an apology and costs, however he lost the election.
Champion then settled down as a leader writer for The Age
. His wife successfully conducted the Book Lovers' Library and Bookshop, and in connection with this Champion published a monthly literary paper, the Book Lover, which ran 1899–1921. He also wrote occasionally for the Socialist and The Bulletin
. He had a long period of ill-health before his death at Melbourne on 30 April 1928. He married Elsie Belle, daughter of Lieut.-Colonel Goldstein, who survived him. He had no children.
Champion interested himself in social movements, was a foundation member of the Anti-Sweating
League, and he organized the first appeal which resulted in the foundation of the Queen Victoria Hospital for Women and Children
. He also founded the Australasian authors' agency and published a few books with literary merit.
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and activist, regarded as one of the leading spirits behind the formation of the Independent Labour Party
Independent Labour Party
The Independent Labour Party was a socialist political party in Britain established in 1893. The ILP was affiliated to the Labour Party from 1906 to 1932, when it voted to leave...
. Up to 1893, he lived and worked in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, moving after that date to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Early life
Champion was born in Poona, IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
on 22 January 1859, the son of Major-General James Hyde Champion, and his wife Henrietta Susan, née Urquhart, of aristocratic Scottish descent.
Henry was sent to England at four years of age to attend a day school and from 13 was educated at Marlborough College
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils, located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800...
, later he attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He entered the army fought with the artillery in the Afghan War of 1879
Second Anglo-Afghan War
The Second Anglo-Afghan War was fought between the United Kingdom and Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the nation was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai dynasty, the son of former Emir Dost Mohammad Khan. This was the second time British India invaded Afghanistan. The war ended in a manner...
. There he caught typhoid and was sent back to England.
A radical friend showed Champion the London East End slums; his friend also accompanied Champion to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
where Champion was influenced by the writings of Henry George
Henry George
Henry George was an American writer, politician and political economist, who was the most influential proponent of the land value tax, also known as the "single tax" on land...
.
Socialist in England
Champion resigned his army commission 17 September 1882 in disgust over conduct of the Egyptian War of that year and joined the socialist movementSocialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
. He became assistant secretary of the Social Democratic Federation
Social Democratic Federation
The Social Democratic Federation was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on June 7, 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury and Eleanor Marx. However, Friedrich Engels, Karl Marx's long-term...
(SDF) and wrote for the socialist paper, Justice
Justice (newspaper)
Justice was the weekly newspaper of the Social Democratic Federation in the United Kingdom.The SDF had been known until January 1884 as the Democratic Federation. With the change of name, the organisation launched the paper. Many issues appeared with the by-line "Organ of the Social...
. In 1886 with John Burns
John Burns
John Elliot Burns was an English trade unionist and politician of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly associated with London politics. He was a socialist and then a Liberal Member of Parliament and Minister. He was anti-alcohol and a keen sportsman...
, Henry Hyndman
Henry Hyndman
Henry Mayers Hyndman was an English writer and politician, and the founder of the Social Democratic Federation and the National Socialist Party.-Early years:...
and J. Williams he was indicted for seditious conspiracy in connexion with the Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
riots, after conducting his own defence he was acquitted.
Champion bought a half-share in a printing plant and published a paper called To-Day, and in 1885-86 George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
's early novel Cashel Byron's Profession
Cashel Byron's Profession
Cashel Byron's Profession is George Bernard Shaw's fourth novel. The novel was written in 1882 and after rejection by several publishers it was published in serialized form in a socialist magazine. The novel was later published as a book in England and the United States...
appeared in it as a serial. It was published separately by Champion in 1886. This was the first of Shaw's works published in book form.
Champion joined the Labour Electoral Association and founded a newspaper called Labour Elector
Labour Elector
The Labour Elector was a British socialist publication. The Labour Elector was edited by Henry Hyde Champion and published from London. The newspaper was sold at one penny...
in 1888.
In 1889 Champion was one of the leaders of the dock labourers' strike
London Dock Strike of 1889
The London Dock Strike was an industrial dispute involving dock workers in the Port of London. It broke out on 14 August 1889, and resulted in a victory for the strikers and established strong trade unions amongst London dockers, one of which became the nationally important Dock, Wharf, Riverside...
, to the funds of which a large sum was sent from Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Soon afterwards he had a disagreement with some of his fellow socialists, broke away, and for a time was assistant-editor of the Nineteenth Century. He stood as an independent candidate for the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
at Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
, but, though he polled fairly well, was defeated and soon afterwards went to Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
to find relief from illness, arriving on 12 August 1890.
Henry Hyde Champion is regarded by some as the father of the Independent Labour Party
Independent Labour Party
The Independent Labour Party was a socialist political party in Britain established in 1893. The ILP was affiliated to the Labour Party from 1906 to 1932, when it voted to leave...
. Historian Joseph Clayton
Joseph Clayton
Joseph Clayton was an English freelance journalist and biographer. A writer of numerous books, he covered areas of trade union and socialist history, but also religious figures and history.-Life:...
wrote in 1926:
"When the first annual conference took place at Bradford in January 1893 and was seen to thrive, Champion could write in The Labour Elector: 'We have created the ILP and set it on its legs.'
"The boast has truth in it. For if any one man could say 'I created the ILP,' that man was Henry Hyde Champion. Others, and notably James Keir Hardie, are extolled as founders of the ILP..... Keir Hardie, Joseph BurgessJoseph BurgessJoseph Burgess was a British journalist and Labour politician.He was born on 3 July 1853 in Failsworth, Lancashire, the third of six children of handloom weavers, and educated at a print works school in Failsworth. He started work in a card-cutting room at the age of six and worked as a cotton...
, Robert BlatchfordRobert BlatchfordRobert Peel Glanville Blatchford was a socialist campaigner, journalist and author in the United Kingdom. He was a prominent atheist and opponent of eugenics. He was also an English patriot...
— were but midwives. The real father was H.H. Champion. And if Champion has been pushed out of the scene, it is partly because he left England for Australia; and partly because, indifferent to fame, he was ambitious rather to get things done than to have the credit for the accomplished fact.
"But Champion is the man whom the student of history, writing without bias and without axe to grind on behalf of reputation for the living or the dead, without fear of foe or favour for friend, unswayed by personal predilection for the character of this man or the policy of that, will name as the real creator of the ILP. It was Champion who discerned that the Socialist LeagueSocialist LeagueSocialist League may refer to one of several organisations:*Socialist League *Socialist League *Socialist League *Socialist League *Socialist League *Socialist League...
with its non-parliamentary policy and Anarchist sympathies would never command the support of the British people, always strongly attached to parliamentary institutions; that the SDF in its devotion to the pure gospel of Marx made no appeal to Trade Unionists anxious for small but pressing changes that would better their condition; that Labour Electoral Associations in the control of Liberal Trade Unionists would accomplish nothing that would diminish the power of the Capitalist."
Australia
Henry Hyde Champion emigrated to Australia in 1893 at the age of 34.In 1895 Champion established a weekly paper the Champion which lasted until 1897, and he also published in Melbourne in 1895 The Root of the Matter, a series of dialogues on social questions, which gave moderate statement of the socialist position, but attracted little attention. Champion could not, however, find his place in politics in Australia. He could not see eye to eye with the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
, and a statement, possibly made in haste, that this party consisted of lions led by asses did not help the position. He was a candidate for South Melbourne
South Melbourne, Victoria
South Melbourne is an inner city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Port Phillip and Melbourne...
for the Victorian Legislative Assembly
Victorian Legislative Assembly
The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of Victoria in Australia. Together with the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house, it sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Melbourne.-History:...
supported now by many at the Trades Hall; the campaign revolved round his personal reputation and he had the satisfaction of prosecuting Max Hirsch
Max Hirsch (economist)
Maximilian Hirsch was a German-born businessman and economist who settled in Melbourne, Australia, where he became the recognized intellectual leader of the Australian Georgist movement and, briefly, a member of the Victorian Parliament.-Early life:Hirsch was born in Cologne in the German state...
and extracting an apology and costs, however he lost the election.
Champion then settled down as a leader writer for The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
. His wife successfully conducted the Book Lovers' Library and Bookshop, and in connection with this Champion published a monthly literary paper, the Book Lover, which ran 1899–1921. He also wrote occasionally for the Socialist and The Bulletin
The Bulletin
The Bulletin was an Australian weekly magazine that was published in Sydney from 1880 until January 2008. It was influential in Australian culture and politics from about 1890 until World War I, the period when it was identified with the "Bulletin school" of Australian literature. Its influence...
. He had a long period of ill-health before his death at Melbourne on 30 April 1928. He married Elsie Belle, daughter of Lieut.-Colonel Goldstein, who survived him. He had no children.
Champion interested himself in social movements, was a foundation member of the Anti-Sweating
Sweatshop
Sweatshop is a negatively connoted term for any working environment considered to be unacceptably difficult or dangerous. Sweatshop workers often work long hours for very low pay, regardless of laws mandating overtime pay or a minimum wage. Child labour laws may be violated. Sweatshops may have...
League, and he organized the first appeal which resulted in the foundation of the Queen Victoria Hospital for Women and Children
Queen Victoria Village
Queen Victoria Village, generally known as QV Village or just QV, is a precinct in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia...
. He also founded the Australasian authors' agency and published a few books with literary merit.
Sources consulted
- Geoffrey Serle, 'Champion, Henry Hyde (1859 - 1928)', Australian Dictionary of BiographyAustralian Dictionary of BiographyThe Australian Dictionary of Biography is a national, co-operative enterprise, founded and maintained by the Australian National University to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's history....
, Volume 7, MUP, 1979, pp 603-605.